Bluffton sends team to Pony Jumper finals

It’s that time of year again where all the young riders and their ponies will be heading off to Lexington, Ky., to compete for the national title of champion in the Pony Jumper finals which began Monday and continue through Sunday.

Riders come from all over the nation will compete in individual and team competition. Most riders will be competing individually, but there are also teams of three or four riders. Usually, the course will consist of 13 jumps and the team with the least amount of faults and the fastest time around the course wins.

Team members are Heather Vaxer, Cooper Dean, Morgan Gravely and Micaela Smith. What is so exciting is that most of the riders are 13 to 16 years old and have been competing for years in order to get to Lexington. Many of these riders hope to one day become Olympians.

Every year, the top pony rider team in each state must qualify to represent their zone. South Carolina is zone four along with Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi. Last year zone four took home the gold and the year before the bronze.

Bluffton should take personal pride at the success of the zone four team because it is the home of the team’s Chef d’Equipe (team coach) Katie Brown Maxwell of Rose Dhu Equestrian Center. She has coached and organized this winning team over the years with different team members each year. Rose Dhu has a covered arena which is similar to the type they are using in Kentucky.

Team members traveled from other states with familiy members as well as the local team members to prepare for this competition. The families loved the training facilities at Rose Dhu Equestrian Center as well as the Bluffton area. One of the previous team members has moved here permanently with her family and continues to train with Maxwell. Let’s cheer on our the team this week as they go for the gold again.